HPD checking its flashlights after one explodes

HPD checking flashlights after one explodesOfficer suffers minor burns on left cheek in W. Houston

Published 5:30 am, Monday, October 5, 2009

Houston police are inspecting their flashlights after one exploded in the face of an officer working a second job Sunday night.

Two officers were told by residents of an apartment complex at Crescent Park and Southlake in west Houston that people had been seen coming and going from a vacant, darkened unit, department spokesman John Cannon said.

Once inside, the officers reported hearing some sort of explosion and retreated outside, calling for backup. When they went back in, they found the flashlight batteries on the floor and realized what happened.

The officer holding the flashlight suffered a minor burn on his left cheek, a reddened eye and a minor hand injury, Cannon said. He was treated at Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center and released.

"There was some type of chemical reaction," Cannon said.

The flashlight was a Streamlight Poly Tac LED model, powered by two Ultralast Photo Lithium batteries, Cannon said.

Cannon added that officers are expected to provide certain pieces of their own equipment, including flashlights and handguns, so brands and models vary across the force.

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